Data extracted in December 2024.
Planned article update: December 2025.
Highlights
In the EU, the share of households with internet access was 94% in 2024, up from 80% in 2014.
80% of EU internet users sent or received e-mails in 2024.
70% of EU internet users interacted with public authorities in 2024.
72% of EU internet users ordered or bought services or goods online in 2024.
Internet access of households, 2024 and 2014
Country codes
This article presents recent statistical data on several different aspects of the digital economy and society in the European Union (EU), focusing on the availability of information and communication technologies (ICTs) and their use by individuals and within households.
ICTs affect people's everyday lives in many ways, both at work and at home, for example, when communicating or buying goods or services online. EU policies range from regulating entire areas such as e-commerce to trying to protect an individual's privacy. The development of the information society is therefore regarded by many as critical for providing the necessary conditions to promote a modern and competitive economy.
Internet access
The European Declaration on Digital Rights and Principles for the Digital Decade puts people at the centre of digital transformation of the EU. Digital transformation should contribute to a fair and inclusive society and economy in the EU. Widespread access to the internet is one of the means to measure this digital transformation and should be possible regardless of social status or geographical location. Access in the context of the ICT survey does not refer to connectability (i.e. can connections be provided in the household's area or street), but to whether anyone in the household is able to use the internet at home if desired (connectivity). Connectivity can be measured at household level as well as at individual level.
94% of all households surveyed in the EU in 2024 had access to the internet. In 2024, the highest rates of household connection to the internet were reported by the Netherlands and Luxembourg with 99% (Figure 1). Household internet connection was also high in Finland and Denmark (both at 97%). In 2024, the lowest rates of household internet access among the EU countries were reported by Greece and Croatia (both with 87%). The catching-up effect is clearly visible when comparing the 2024 rates with those of 2014, a 10 year period. The growth rate in Bulgaria (63%) and in Romania (56%) reflects the leap forward made by these 2 EU countries from less than 60% of households having access to the internet in 2014 to rates over 90% which are comparable with other EU countries with a high up-take. This catching-up effect is also visible for Türkiye.
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(% of all households)
Source: Eurostat (isoc_ci_in_h)
Pattern of internet use
How many individuals in the EU have never used the internet in 2024? What is the percentage of those who connected to the internet more than a year before the survey? In the ICT survey, respondents are also asked if they used the internet in the last 3 months or in a time span of 3 to 12 months prior to the survey. A global overview of the pattern of the use of internet by the individuals is thus presented in the ICT survey. In 2024, Denmark and Luxembourg presented the highest shares of individuals having used the internet in the last 3 months before the survey with figures over 99%. Consequently, the share of individuals reporting that they never used the internet was very small in these 2 EU countries, less than 1%. The share of individuals who never used the internet was the highest in Croatia, Greece, and Portugal with 14%, 11%, and 10% respectively, in 2024. At EU level, the share of individuals having used the internet the last time between 3 and 12 months or more than a year ago was negligible in 2024 (Figure 2).
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(% of all individuals aged 16-74 years)
Source: Eurostat (isoc_ci_ifp_iu)
Frequency of internet use
In the EU, among those having used the internet in the last 3 months, less than 5% used the internet at least once a week but not every day while the rate of daily users rose to 88% in 2024. In the Netherlands and Ireland, the rate of daily users is comparable with the rate of those who used the internet in the last 3 months (Table 1).
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(% of all individuals aged 16-74 years)
Source: Eurostat (isoc_ci_ifp_fu)
Digital inclusion
The European Declaration on Digital Rights and Principles for the Digital Decade promoted "a digital transformation that leaves nobody behind. It should benefit everyone, achieve gender balance, and include notably elderly people, people living in rural areas, persons with disabilities, or marginalised…". In Denmark, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Ireland, Sweden, Belgium, Malta, and Germany in 2024, the internet access of rural areas is comparable with the internet access in cities. The difference in internet access between cities and rural areas was highest in Greece and in Bulgaria with 15 percentage points (pp) in 2024 (Figure 3).
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(% of all individuals aged 16-74 years)
Source: Eurostat (isoc_ci_ifp_iu)
Purpose using the internet
Chapter 4 of the European Declaration on Digital Rights deals with the participation of individuals in a digital public environment. In particular, it states: "Everyone should have access to a trustworthy, diverse, and multilingual digital environment. Access to diverse content contributes to a pluralistic public debate and effective participation in democracy in a non-discriminatory manner". Several indicators of the ICT survey deal with the purpose of the use of internet by the individuals: communication, access to information, civic and political participation, education. The topics e-commerce and e-government will be presented in separate sections in this publication.
Communication
Communication is a very important and probably the most basic and visible objective of ICT. As such, it is measured in the ICT survey by at least 4 variables that are presented in this section: the use of instant messaging (such as WhatsApp, Messenger, etc.), participation in social networks (Facebook, Snapchat, etc.), making calls, and sending and receiving e-mails. At EU level, the proportion of individuals aged between 16 and 74 years having sent or received e-mails was 80% in 2024, very close to the share of 79% who used instant messaging (Figure 4). This effect was reversed in Austria, Spain, Malta, Latvia, Cyprus, Portugal, Italy, Bulgaria, and Romania where the users of instant messaging outscored the users of e-mails.
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(% of all individuals aged 16-74 years)
Source: Eurostat (isoc_ci_ac_i)
Access to information
Access to information plays a very important role in our societies, as information impacts all aspects of our lives, either political or economic (such as giving or finding information on products and services). The so-called 'screen culture' shows that information can also shape culture. Access to information in the ICT survey is summed up by 2 indicators related to the finding of information about goods and services and the reading of online news (newspapers and magazines). In 2024, 65% of individuals aged between 16 and 74 years read online news. The share increased to 88% in Finland and 87% in Denmark. As concerns the finding of information about goods and services, the proportion was 75% in the EU (Figure 5). The Netherlands (96%) and Denmark (94%) reported the highest share among the EU countries.
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(% of all individuals aged 16-74 years)
Source: Eurostat (isoc_ci_ac_i)
Civic and political participation
The impact of online media on political elections is indisputable nowadays. The opinions of a large number of persons can be made or at least influenced by what is expressed and/or read online. Two indicators in the ICT survey deal with civic and political participation. The first one is related to political opinions expressed online via websites or social media. The second indicator measures individuals who took part in online consultations or votes on political issues. Civic issues are matters of public concern that affect citizens and the community as a whole – examples include affordable housing, environmental protection, or city planning. Political issues are matters that revolve around governance, public policy, and decision-making within a society. In 2024, 10% of EU individuals took part in online consultations related to civic or political issues while 16% expressed opinions on civic or political issues online. In 2024, Slovenia (32%) and Cyprus (31%) reported the highest share of individuals having expressed opinions on civic or political issues online (Figure 6).
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(% of all individuals aged 16-74 years)
Source: Eurostat (isoc_ci_ac_i)
Use of entertainment
ICT has deeply transformed the entertainment industry in reshaping how individuals consume and interact with the media, such as watching either streamed TV or video on commercial services (such as Netflix, Amazon). At EU level, 62% of individuals aged between 16 and 74 years watched video content from sharing services (such as YouTube, TikTok) compared with 50% that watched video content through commercial streaming services and 48% through internet streaming services (Figure 7).
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(% of all individuals aged 16-74 years)
Source: Eurostat (isoc_ci_ac_i)
E-health
The digital transformation of health and care promises to benefit people, health care systems, and the economy. Digital technologies - such as 5G mobile communication, artificial intelligence, and supercomputing - offer new opportunities to transform the way we receive and provide health and care services. They enable innovative approaches to independent living and integrated health and social care. Health data and advanced data analytics can help accelerate scientific research, personalise medicine, and provide early diagnosis of diseases and more. The seeking of health information online was done by 58% of the individuals surveyed in the EU in 2024 while 40% booked an appointment with a health practitioner online. The proportion of those who accessed personal health records online was 28% in 2024 in the EU (Figure 8).
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(% of all individuals aged 16-74 years)
Source: Eurostat (isoc_ci_ac_i)
Education
On education, the European Declaration on Digital Rights states: "Everyone has the right to education, training and lifelong learning and should be able to acquire all basic and advanced digital skills. We commit to:…d) giving to everyone the possibility to adjust to changes brought by the digitalisation of work through up-skilling and re-skilling". Digital technologies have opened a new era in the domain of education by widening the horizon of possibilities in learning and teaching. E-learning is approached in the ICT survey through indicators that measure the percentage of individuals who completed an online course or who communicated with educators through digital tools. In 2024, 17% of individuals aged 16-74 years had done an online course, the same proportion interacted online with an educator or a learner. With 35%, Ireland reported the highest share of individuals having done an online course in 2024 (Figure 9).
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(% of all individuals aged 16-74 years)
Source: Eurostat (isoc_ci_ac_i)
Use of e-government
Interaction with public authorities
The European Declaration on Digital Rights states that "everyone should have access to key public services in the EU". The possibility has to be offered to the public to have access to a wide range of public online services. The use of a public authorities' websites or applications (apps) could be a proxy of the online interaction with the public authorities. In the EU, 70% of the individuals surveyed connected to a public authorities' websites or apps. In Denmark, the share of individuals having connected to a public authorities' websites or apps reached 99%, 96% in the Netherlands, the 2 highest rates among the EU countries in 2024. The lowest rate of internet users having connected to a public authorities' websites or apps was found in Romania with 25% (Figure 10).
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(% of all individuals aged 16-74 years)
Source: Eurostat (isoc_ciegi_ac)
Issues encountered on the use of public authorities' websites or apps
A large number of users did not report any problems with public authorities' websites or apps: In 2024, 38% of users in the EU reported having encountered no problems. The highest numbers were found in Denmark (59%), Sweden (58%), and the Netherlands (57%). In Estonia and Romania, 17% reported no issues following the use of a public authority's websites or apps (Table 2). In 2024, 16% of users in the EU reported technical problems, 14% difficulties due to the use of the website, and 7% an issue related to digital identification. Another 7% were unable to access the public websites or apps through a smartphone or a tablet, 3% were unable to pay, and 4% reported other issues. It was in Spain that the highest share of individuals reporting technical problems was found in 2024 with 30%, then 29% in Portugal. In Germany and in Cyprus, 4% reported technical issues, the lowest share among the EU countries in 2024. As concerns the issues related to electronic identification, the highest share of individuals having encountered problems were in Spain (19%) and in Austria (18%). In Romania and in Greece, the share of those who reported issues with electronic identification was 1% in 2024.
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(% of all individuals aged 16-74 years)
Source: Eurostat (isoc_ciegi_pb22)
Ordering or buying goods and services
In 2024, 72% of individuals aged 16-74 years in the EU ordered or bought goods or services over the internet for private use, up from 60% in 2019 (see Figure 11). Ireland (95%), the Netherlands (94%) and Denmark (90%) presented the highest share of internet users having bought goods or services online. Italy (54%) and Bulgaria (50%) reported the lowest share of individuals having bought or ordered goods online in 2024. The largest increase in the proportion of individuals who ordered or bought goods or services over the internet between 2019 and 2024 were observed in Romania (up by 33 pp), Ireland and Bulgaria (up 28 pp), Cyprus and Greece (up by 26 pp).
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(% of all individuals aged 16-74 years)
Source: Eurostat (isoc_ec_ib20)
Internet of things (IoT)
The IoT represents the next step towards digitalisation where all objects and people can be interconnected through communication networks, in and across private, public, and industrial spaces, and report about their status and/or about the status of the surrounding environment. The scope in the context of ICT survey is limited to the individual's use of IoT solutions in their private life context. It concerns mainly the uptake of home automation solutions ('domotics'), but also the use of wearable devices, e-health solutions, or cars with built-in wireless connection. Two indicators are presented in this article, the use of home internet connected devices and a more global indicator on the use of any type of internet connected device. In 2024, 71% of individuals aged 16-74 years used internet connected devices. 63% used home connected devices. In the Netherlands, 95% used internet connected devices and 75% home connected devices. Poland reported the lowest rate of individuals having used internet connected devices with 46%, and 32% for the home connected devices (Figure 12).
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(% of all individuals aged 16-74 years)
Source: Eurostat (isoc_iiot_use)
Obstacles to the use of IoT devices
What are the obstacles to the use of connected objects? Answers to this question are provided by the ICT Survey. In the EU, 41% of those who did not use internet connected devices simply didn't have a need to use them. For 9%, it was the price that was prohibitive. 6% felt that they lacked the skills to use such devices while for 7%, the concern about security was the obstacle (Table 3).
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(% of all individuals aged 16-74 years)
Source: Eurostat (isoc_iiot_bx)
Green ICT
The collection of indicators on Green ICT is necessary for policies related to the European Green Deal. In 2024, the ICT survey collected some green indicators related either to recycling habits of individuals/households, or IT equipment not used anymore. While statistics for a set of IT equipment is available, in this article a focus is arbitrarily made on smart or mobile phones no longer in use. Regarding the question on the final disposal of mobile or smartphones no longer in use, 51% of EU individuals aged between 16 and 74 years kept the old device in their household compared with 11% who recycled it. 18% of individuals gave away or sold their old phone while 2% simply threw it away without recycling properly (Table 4). Among the EU countries, the proportion of individuals that kept their old mobile and smartphones ranged in 2024 from 69% in Ireland and 67% in Cyprus to 38% in Greece. Regarding the individuals who sold or gave away their mobile or smartphone, the highest shares in the EU were in Croatia (34%) and the lowest in Italy with 7%. Recycling is still to be developed in the EU as a credible destination for old ICT devices. Greece (25%) and Czechia (18%) reported the highest rates in the EU of individuals who had recycled their old mobile or smartphone in 2024.
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(% of all individuals aged 16-74 years)
Source: Eurostat (isoc_eco_dd)
Source data for tables and figures
Data sources
Rapid technological change in areas related to the internet and other new applications of ICTs pose challenges for statistics. As such, there has been a considerable degree of development in this area, with statistical tools being adapted to satisfy new demands for data. Indeed, statistics within this domain are reassessed on an annual basis in order to meet user needs and reflect the rapid pace of change.
This approach is replicated in Eurostat's survey on ICT usage in households and by individuals. This annual survey is used to benchmark ICT-driven developments, both by following developments for core variables over time and by looking in greater depth at other aspects at a specific point in time. While the survey initially concentrated on access and connectivity issues, its scope has subsequently been extended to cover a variety of subjects (for example, e-government and e-commerce) and socioeconomic analysis (such as regional diversity, gender specificity, differences in age, education and the employment situation). The scope of the survey with respect to different technologies is also adapted so as to cover new product groups and means of delivering communication technologies to end-users (such as introducing new questions about online peer-to-peer accommodation or transport services in 2017).
The reference period for the survey on ICT usage in households and by individuals is in most cases the first quarter of each year; in most countries, the survey is conducted in the second quarter of each year.
Coverage and definitions
The household ICT survey covers those households having at least one member in the age group 16-74 years. Internet access of households refers to the percentage of households that have an internet access, so that anyone in the household could use the internet at home, if so desired, even simply to send an e-mail.
Internet users are defined as all individuals aged 16-74 years who had used the internet in the 3 months prior to the survey. Regular internet users are individuals who used the internet, on average, at least once a week in the 3 months prior to the survey.
The wired technologies most commonly used to access the internet are divided between broadband and dial-up access over a normal or an ISDN telephone line. Broadband includes digital subscriber lines (DSL) and uses technology that transports data at high speeds. Broadband lines are defined as having a capacity higher than ISDN, meaning equal to or higher than 144 kbit/s. Popular devices to access the internet at home include desktop and portable computers, while more recently there has been an expansion in other internet-enabled technologies.
Mobile internet usage is defined as using the internet away from home or work on portable computers or handheld devices via mobile phone networks or wireless connections.
The ordering of goods and services by individuals refers to the 3-month period prior to the survey and includes rented accommodation or transport services, purchasing financial investments, telecommunication services, video games or software, as well as information services from the internet that are directly paid for. Goods and services that are obtained via the internet for free are excluded. Orders made by manually typed e-mails, SMS or MMS are also excluded.
Context
In 2019, the European Commission President, Ursula von der Leyen, described how she wanted the EU to grasp the opportunities presented by the digital age. Such a digital transformation is based on the premise that digital technologies and solutions should: open up new opportunities for businesses; boost the development of trustworthy technology; foster an open and democratic society; enable a vibrant and sustainable economy; help fight climate change.
Data from this survey supports measuring the implementation of one of the 6 priorities for the period 2019-2024 of the von der Leyen European Commission – A Europe fit for the digital age. The strategy is built on 3 pillars: (1) Technology that works for the people; (2) A fair and competitive digital economy; (3) An open, democratic and sustainable society. Furthermore, it facilitates the monitoring of the EU's digital targets for 2030, set by the Digital Compass for the EU's Digital Decade, evolving around 4 cardinal points: skills, digital transformation of businesses, secure and sustainable digital infrastructures, and digitalisation of public services. On 15 September 2021, the Commission proposed the Path to the digital decade, which introduces a governance framework to reach the targets set out by the 2030 Digital Compass. Data on the use of ICT in households and by individuals appears among the monitoring indicators of the European Skills Agenda.
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Other articles
Database
- Digital economy and society (isoc), see:
- ICT usage in households and by individuals (isoc_i)
- Connection to the internet and computer use (isoc_ici)
- Households - level of internet access (isoc_ci_in_h)
- Households - type of connection to the internet (isoc_ci_it_h)
- Individuals - mobile internet access (isoc_ci_im_i)
- Connection to the internet and computer use (isoc_ici)
- Internet use (isoc_iiu)
- Individuals - internet use (isoc_ci_ifp_iu)
- Individuals - frequency of internet use (isoc_ci_ifp_fu)
- Internet use (isoc_iiu)
- E-commerce (isoc_iec)
- Internet purchases by individuals (2020 onwards) (isoc_ec_ib20)
- Internet purchases: goods or services (2020 onwards) (isoc_ec_ibgs)
- Internet purchases by individuals (until 2019) (isoc_ec_ibuy)
- E-commerce (isoc_iec)
- ICT trust, security and privacy (isoc_ci_sci)
- Privacy and protection of personal information (2020 onwards) (isoc_cisci_prv20)
- ICT trust, security and privacy (isoc_ci_sci)
Thematic section
Publications
- Digital economy and society in the EU — 2017 edition — Digital publication
- Press releases and other publications
- Statistical articles
Selected datasets
Methodology
- ICT usage in households and by individuals (ESMS metadata file — isoc_i)
- Methodological manuals for statistics on the information society